Sonic Revolutions
by Japs
Summary: Robotnik and his industry are taking over Mobius, destroying the planet and turning the inhabitants to robot slaves, but an underground group called the Revolution, led by a certain blue hedgehog, plot to claim their land back and get revenge...
1. Author Notes

Author Notes  
  
Hi, welcome to my first fanfic in a long time!  
  
I thought I'd give you a little background information on this story before we began, as a warning. My friend Yosh and I created the concept of Sonic Revolutions when he got a copy of Sonic Mega Collection. He was new to the world of Sonic, and I had been a fan since my childhood, so I gave him some background information. It ended up with us both becoming more and more interested in Sonic, him on how it evolved and me on how it had changed since Sonic and Knuckles.  
  
With Sonic Revolutions, we decided to take a new approach to the Sonic universe. We made the Sonic gang more a revolutionary group acting against the industrialisation of the world, headed by Robotnik. We took our favourite characters from every Sonic source - the games, the British Fleetway comics, the American Archie comics, Sonic Underground, Sonic SATAM, you get the idea - and gave them characteristics that would suit Revolutions but still manage to remain faithful to the characters themselves. I hope you like the results, and please do post us what you think.  
  
All the best,  
  
Japs 


	2. Celebrations

Chapter One: Celebrations

Written by Japs

The Ceremonial Hall was littered with sandstone pillars, fluted with the designs of owl-like faces, mouths open and eyes wide. These pillars stood in four great rows, travelling back as far as the burning torchlight allowed, a long corridor leading to the Hall itself, a great circle of sand-gold walls with their ancient designs of war and battle. They pictured a rivalry, a feud between two clans.

  Knuckles sat kneeling, dressed in a brown-dyed woollen tunic. His dreadlocks hung down his back, brushed out of his face. Water was poured slowly from a jug onto his red forehead. Blessed water, apparently. Another echidna, white where he was red, held it while chanting the Memorants that spoke the same as the walls did. How the echidna tribe stole victory when they did not have the strength to battle, and never gave up, and fought with honour unlike their enemies. Knuckles kept his eyes shut and his face unreadable. _It's not that I don't respect the honour, but I've heard this all before._

  "...And when we had their bounty, this land was blessed upon us by the mighty Mobius", Shaman Zachary continued. "The land did quake, and then rose up, away from our enemy. For generations it has served us well, this Island of the Heavens, this Floating Island. And for each generation one has been chosen for the role of Guardian to what we have in memory of the lives we lost in battle. You, Knuckles, are so chosen, and on this day, the day of your coming of age, you are presented with the Silver Shawl."

  Knuckles opened his eyes in politeness as his own metal shawl was taken from him. Then, Zachary slid the Silver Shawl of the Guardian upon his shoulders. It was cold, and heavier than the other shawl, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He looked up at Zachary. What was that look he had on his face? Was Zachary jealous towards him? But as soon as the shawl was fastened, the look was gone. _Probably just due to the weight. He _is_ getting older._

  "Rise, Knuckles the Guardian." Zachary announced, with his arms raised up high. Knuckles did so and turned his back on him – turned to face his audience. The whole of the Echidna had turned up. At the front he could see his mother and father, and his little sister clinging onto his mother's shirt, hiding behind her but gazing in awe. He gave her a smile and a wave. The crowd broke quickly from silence to cheers and laughs. This was the time for Knuckles to make his Promises. He motioned for a hush, which came surprisingly swift.

  "I will take your gift to me," he announced, "and all that comes with it. You have me elected as your Guardian, and I will do so. The Chaos Emeralds will be safe until the next generation of Echidna!"

  The crowd's noise broke again. They lifted him above their heads, and the Halls of Ceremony echoed his name. "Knuckles, Knuckles, Knuckles!"

  But something nagged him. How could he make such Promises when the land under the Floating Island was changing? Almost a quarter of Mobius was now no longer of grass or sand or water, but now metal. Smoke rose from it, and near it was fire. And war. What if the Island was detected by this metal menace? What if the Chaos Emeralds were known of down there, after so long, and the power they held became desired by whoever was causing the industrialisation of the world?

  "Knuckles, Knuckles, Knuckles!"

  He couldn't let them down. Not his people. 

Tails grunted as he shut his eyes just in time to stop the oil that dripped onto his face from getting in them. He reached out for the rag by his side, and then saw the state of his gloved hand and his arm. Oil stains all over. He sat upright, to take a look at the rest of his body to see if it was in a similar state, and it was only until it was too late he remembered he was lying under his biplane.

  Rubbing his head, he kicked himself out from under the plane on the wheel board he lay on. He stood up properly, and then looked at himself. His body was filthy from head to toe with clots of hair stuck together with oil and grease. Well, at least he had found where the fuel was leaking now. Looking away from his filthy, fury body, he looked up and smiled with a sense of achievement.

  Before him sat the Tornado 3, his most recent biplane, now with an engine upgrade so that it could reach faster speeds in less time. The fox's ears twitched in delight. If there was one thing he loved more than mints, it was aeroplanes.

  As he turned, his hands rubbing together and his famous twin tails rubbing together also, his ears twitched again. Someone was calling him.

  But not by the name of Tails.

Manic peered around the open hanger door, flicking his green hair out of his eyes.

  "Miles? Yo, Pixel Brain, you in here?" the hedgehog called.

  Tail's plane was there, surrounded by various other bits and pieces of tools and odd metal components. The whole hanger looked like Tails had just been there, working on his plane, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  "Oh," Manic chuckled, approaching the plane, "Playin' hard to get, huh? No biggie. I know you're in here, I asked some of the guys and they said you were here. I got news for ya man, big news." Manic tiptoed to the plane, lifting himself on one of the rungs at the side as silently as he could. "It would be a shame if you weren't here to... HEAR IT!" Manic leapt up, swooping his arms into the cockpit of the biplane to grab Tails, only the fox was not there. The green hedgehog ended up with his legs sticking obscurely out of the cockpit; waving like a clockwork toy's legs when it was wound up to it's tightest and then left upside down. After a struggle, he ended up sitting upright in the seat.

  "Hey, not bad," he said, grinning. He put his hands on the steering wheel and turned it left to right. "Lotsa cool buttons. Pixel Brian's got some neat tricks up his sleeves."

  "He sure does."

  Manic looked up in shock, and he was met face-to-face with a water balloon filled as full as could be travelling down to him. It burst open with a crack and a sploosh, leaving the hedgehog soaked from spike-to-toe with a bit of blue rubber left over from the balloon hanging on his snout. Disgruntled, he looked up again. Tails hung midair, his twin namesakes working as one like a propeller, clutching his stomach and laughing uncontrollably.

  "Not cool, little dude." The punk muttered, shoving his hand into one of his jacket pockets and producing a very worn out looking handkerchief. "You wait to my bro hears about this."

  "He'd probably congratulate me fo–" Tails began, then nearly dropped out of the air as his mind clicked. "What do you mean?"

  "That's what I came to tell ya, little dude," said Manic, grinning at the young fox's reaction. "My bro's comin' back. Today."

  "Sonic!" Tails squeaked. This time he actually dropped out to the ground. Tails working, he used them to propel himself forward as he ran.

  "Stoked, huh?"

  Manic was running easily alongside Tail's pace.

  "Yup!" chimed the fox. "It's been too long! Are you excited?"

  "Oh yeah!" Manic replied, as if it was an obvious question. "He's my bro, ya know? We gotta stick together. Sonia went wild when she found out. And then of course Amy found out. There's gonna be a surprise party for Sonic and the guys that went with him."

  "Is that a good idea?" Tails asked. "I mean, what if he comes back with bad news?"

  "Bad news? What bad news could spoil the fact Sonic's coming home? 'Cept maybe the state you're in."

  Tails squealed. "Oh no! I totally forgot I was all dirty!" A sharp left turn and the two were running towards the lakeside.

  "I'll race ya there!" Manic chuckled, then increasing his pace. He wasn't going his full pace, to be fair to the eight-year-old fox. Tail's picked up his pace too.

  "Last one there's a rotten Eggman!" Tails called back to Manic. The two ran off towards the lake.


	3. Fourteen Hours Earlier

Chapter Two: Fourteen Hours Earlier

Written by Yosh. Edits by Japs.

01:53 am

Robotropalis

(14 hours earlier)

It was a clear night sky. The two moons and the stars shone upon the gigantic metallic behemoth, lighting it up like a candle. Thick smoke billowed out of its many chimneys like a swarm of wasps leaving their nest. The building towered over a thousand feet tall littered with walkways leading to laboratories, distillers and storage tanks. Despite this, it was one of the smaller chemical plants on Mobius.

  During the day, this place was feverish with slaves laboriously working, the place buzzing with energy from wall to steel wall. Animals would run back and forth over its bridges in a vain attempt to increase production under the watchful eye of their robotic oppressors. It was empty now, save for a dozen or so robots. It was a hollow shell of glass and metal. The building was very much dormant.

  Footsteps echoed throughout the building. A cloaked figure sprinted across one of its walkways into the main research laboratory. Inside, test tubes, beakers, thermometers and other scientific equipment lay on benches ready for use. They glittered brightly in the moonlight, like a hundred tiny fireflies. One would think this room was huge, if they hadn't seen the empty halls outside.

  Pausing for a moment, the unwanted guest took a look around the room until he found the small bench he was looking for, in the corner of the room. He approached it cautiously then placed a satchel on top of it, pressing a small button activating the explosives inside. If this building is dormant, then the cloaked figure is trying to kill it in its sleep.

  He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a radio. Pushing down the button hard, he cleared his throat and spoke.

  "Tusks this is the Blue Blur, come in tusks, over."

  The radio spat out a huge crackle, before his reply came.

  "Blue blur, this is Tusks, what's up? Over."

  "Two down, one to go. Where do I need to place the last one? Over."

  "Distillery 34, leave by the south entrance and up the flight of stairs on your left, it should be sign posted. I'm going to fly the stag beetle to the rendezvous point, I'll see you there. Over and out."

  The radio spat out another cackle before an almighty BLAM echoed through the lab. The blue blur turned around to find a tall, rusting robot standing a matter of feet away from him with his gun poised and smoking. These robots were called swat bots, and were designed to be like humans, and programmed to be good at armed combat. It was a miracle that it missed.

  Acting quickly, the figure ran along the wall and planted a drop kick right in what would have been it's chin, had it been human, knocking it across a near by bench, shattering all the equipment on it. Before the metallic guard had the opportunity to stand back up, a machete was driven through its head, destroying its motherboard brain and effectively killing it.

  "Show off." Muttered a discontented voice from the other side of the room.

  "It's O.K. Shadow, the fight's over. You can come out now." The figure replied. He dropped down his hood. A hedgehog. He had blue quills, large, thick, green eyes and a short nose. His alias, Blue Blur, was not one without justification. He was Sonic, one of the most wanted in Mobius.

  His accomplice stepped out of the darkness. He too was a hedgehog, except he had black quills, gelled back and up with red steaks, red eyes and a longer nose than Sonic. His name Shadow, and he too is a wanted criminal.

  "Don't ridicule me, you cocky prat!" snarled shadow in his deep voice.

  "Don't worry dude," chuckled Sonic, walking towards his defeated opponent "I'm only playing with you."

  "And don't use my real name either," hissed Shadow. "Suppose someone over hears us!"

  "Well I don't think this guy caught your real name," quipped Sonic, yanking his machete out of the swat bots head "just relax. I hate using those stupid code names anyway."

  "A mission of this importance is no time to relax! You do realise that if anything were to go wrong the resistance..."

  "How many satchels have you got left?" Interrupted Sonic.

  "I've done all mine." Shadow answered after rolling his eyes at being stopped mid sentence. "You?"

  "I've got one left," He replied.

  "Oh, looks like the fastest thing on Mobius isn't all that fast!" taunted Shadow.

  "Hey, don't give me that attitude creep, or I'll..."

  "Or you'll do what?"

  "Gentlemen," Interrupted a third voice, "can we save the bickering 'till the mission is complete?"

  The voice belonged to Rouge, a bat with snow-white fur, and large, pointy ears. Unlike a lot of her race, she possessed an unusual beauty and over her years has learnt to manipulate this so that most men would give in to her like a paper cup under a lead weight.

  "I've done all I needed to do, how about you two?" she said in that ice cool voice.

  "I've done all of mine, but the blue blur here needs to plant one more." Shadow replied, giving Sonic a quick smirk.

  "You two go back to the stag beetle," Sonic said, giving Shadow a filthy look. "I'll be two seconds, okay?"

  Before he gave them any time to reply, he was sprinting to his last destination. _This shouldn't take too long,_ he thought to himself. _I'm getting pissed off with shadow though. What the hell is his problem? _

"What is that guys problem?" complained Shadow. He and Rouge were in a lift heading towards the ground floor. Shadow was leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette while Rouge had her gaze fixed on the glowing floor numbers. Smoke weaved its way like a snake from the cigarette up to the air vent.

  "_His_ problem?" She replied. "From what I heard it was you who was giving him attitude."

  "Yeah, well you didn't hear what was said before that," Shadow muttered defiantly. "He just really gets to me sometimes."

  "Knowing Sonic he was probably only fooling around." She said. "You need to learn how to take a joke."

  "I can't take a joke when that joke's meant to be our leader." He said fiercely.

  Before she could answer, the lift opened with a fierce ping and the stag beetle stood in front awaiting them.

  The stag beetle was a transport ship, similar to that which the military on Mobius used. Like the others, its body was a round shape, with four boosters in each corner. Like the others, it had strong titanium armour, with a bottle green finish. However, when the Rebellion stole it, Tails couldn't resist giving it a couple of customisations. It now had heavy weaponry and Rotor's complex computer system on board.

  The door on its underbelly lowered with a hiss, and Rotor stood there. Rotor, who had been called Tusks over the radio, was a walrus, so naturally he was pretty big compared to the other races on Mobius. He had a big, bushy moustache, from which his long ivory tusks came. He tended to dress scruffily, tonight being no exception dressing in a green bomber jacket and tattered baseball cap. His main purpose in the resistance was computers, and he oversaw everything in the Rebellion to do with them.

  "Hey guys," he said in his naturally cheery way, "where's Sonic?"

  "He's just planting his last satchel." Answered Rouge. "I doubt he'll take long. I got the information you wanted." She handed over to him a metallic green disk.

  "Thanks." He said, putting it into his pocket. "I'll take a look at it as soon as Sonic comes back."

  They all went up the walkway and into the ship. Inside, the stag beetle was a cluttered mess, with wires stretched across the walls and doorways like vines in a jungle, and discarded drinks cans lay on the floor, leaking the last few drops of what was left in them. Rotor sat down in the cockpit, which had keyboards, a radio and other gadgets. He put on a headset, pushed a red button and spoke into his microphone.

  "Blue Blur, this is Tusks, come in Blue Blur, over."

  Rouge peered over Rotors back, trying to listen for a reply. Shadow however, had crashed out onto a seat in the far corner, clearly uninterested, and sucked heavily on his cigarette.

  "Tusks, this is Blue Blur, I've placed the last parcel, initiate countdown, over."

  On his command, Rotor started typing manically. In the background, Shadow gave a heavy exhale, producing a thick cloud over his head. A look of panic spread across Rotors face, as he desperately hammered on one button.

  "What's wrong?" Asked Rouge. Rotor replied to her and told Sonic at the same time:

  "Something's gone wrong with the countdown," he started rapidly "I set it for a ten minute countdown, but for some reason its changed to just one minute. The whole things gonna blow in one minute!"

  Rouge gasped. Shadow couldn't care less. Sonic replied almost instantaneously.

  "Okay. just stay calm, I have an idea. Tusks, fly the stag beetle over to the east window, and leave the door open. Hurry!"

  "He isn't going to do what I think he's going to do, is he?" enquired Rouge. Rotor didn't answer. He was too busy flying the ship around to where Sonic had asked him to, but in his mind he agreed. He looked over to the monitor, which indicated there was forty five seconds left.

  They had reached the east wall. Both Rotor and Rouge peered out of windows desperately searching for any sign of Sonic. Shadow however was still in his own world, blowing little smoke rings and catching them with his hands before they disappeared like ghosts.

  The monitor flashed thirty seconds.

  "Come on, where is he?" muttered Rotor to himself. Twenty seconds. Still no sign of him.

 Fifteen seconds and they heard a window smash from high above. Rotor and Rouge looked up quickly, and sure enough, they spotted the blue hedgehog falling quickly. Ten seconds and a pair of hands grabbed hold of the very edge of the walkway. Rouge ran to Sonics assistance.

  "GO, GO, GO!" Screamed Sonic, "If we're caught in that explosion, we're history!"

  Rotor scrambled into the cockpit.

   Five seconds.

  Rouge pulled up Sonic.

  Four seconds.

  Rotor guided the stag beetle swiftly around the corner of the east wall. 

  Three seconds.

  Shadow lost count of how many rings he had caught.

  Two seconds.

  The door hissed shut.

  One second.

 The stag beetle zipped away from the chemical plant, just in time. From inside They all heard a muffled explosion. Peeking his head out of the window, Sonic caught sight of the inferno that was where the silver behemoth used to stand. He smiled to himself, and turned around to his comrades.

  "Well done team," he said, beaming with pride and joy, "we did it!"


	4. Discoveries

Chapter Three: Discoveries

Written by Japs, finished by Yosh.

It had been six hours since the transmission had come in announcing Sonic, Shadow, Rouge and Rotor's return in the Stag. Despite Manic's optimism, the point Tails brought up was put under heavy consideration. To Amy's disgust, the party was no longer going to have pink balloons and banners spread with "Welcome Home" in bright silver lettering. To Manic's disgust, the loud music would be called off too.

  The result proved to be sickening. All of the Revolution members moved about the base twiddling thumbs and looking over their shoulder to peer at the hangers, as if the Stag Beetle might have silently materialised without anyone noticing. Anxiety rolled around in everyone's stomachs. The sickly feeling of waiting and worry was now very common.

  Sat with her knees gathered to her chest, her arms hooked around her shins loosely, Sonia sat staring atop of the cliff face that the Revolution building burrowed into and under, staring at the skies. She had lost track of how long she had been there in silent solitude. The palm trees of the Green Hill zone swayed in a gentle breeze, which she was too lost in her own thoughts to feel, despite it brushing her pink spikes, her every individual quill shivering in the late summer chill. Worry.

  "You ok, sis?"

  Her daydream broke like a bubble bursting near her skin; able to feel the liquid shards skim her fur, an impulsive shock through her body. Manic draped his arms around her before she could respond, slinging his brown leather jacket around her form. It had slipped her mind that she had been wearing only a short-sleeved tee shirt and a pair of jogging pants, both near enough skintight. He knelt beside her, himself now only in his baggy jeans and two-sizes-too-big tee shirt.

  "I'm ok," she replied. The wind curled around her again, and she realised how cold it was actually getting. She snuggled into the jacket thankfully. "Just... thinking, ya know?"

  "I dig," Manic replied, looking out at the hills and rivers of the Green Hill zone. Sonia looked at her brother and felt what she supposed must have been pity. _The world wont stay still for us,_ she thought. _We're going to have to fight for it now, Manic. And if we loose, all is lost._ She swallowed, and then reached out to put her hand on his shoulder. He was exposing a side she had never seen before, sitting up here with her. This was where she came to sit and look when the pressures of the Revolution became too much for her. She could sit here and gaze at the grass, the trees, the flowers, everything that was being lost on the other side of Mobius to metal and industry. She couldn't believe that Manic, the punk, the street-rat, had this same feeling inside of him. This sadness at what had been lost, and what might still be lost.

  "He's over there, see?" He continued, before she could touch him. "Tails. That stupid fox ruining what could have been a really far out party."

  She could have slapped him. _Men! All the same! Not a poetic or caring bone in their bodies!_

  But she didn't slap him, or even responded to his arrogance at the situation. She looked where he was looking. Tails was squatting near the riverside, running his fingers through the water. An eight-year-old fox, almost a cub still. Before she had reunited with Manic or Sonic, the three of them being separated at birth for reasons she was still not sure of, Sonic had befriended Tails, despite him being seven years younger than him. To Tails, Sonic became a best friend and a brother, who, despite his haste, took in the little fox when he was only six. "Tails is anxious," she replied after a moment. "You need to cut the kid some slack some times, Man'. He's probably twice as smart as you when it comes to mechanics, and he loves Sonic just as much as we do."

  "He is _not_ twice as smart," Manic snorted. "I know what wires to cut to hotwire most machines."

  Sonia sighed and stood up. "You'll never learn," she murmured, walking off.

  "You're up here because you're worried about Sonic." Manic called after her. She stopped."Well... I'm worried too sis. Tails has got all these... _ideas_ in my head. I just need to get my mind off it, ya know?"

  "...I dig." The pink hedgehog replied, breaking into an unseen grin. _He isn't so uncaring as I thought. Just damn stubborn._ "I'm gonna be inside, 'kay?" She put her hand on her brother's shoulder, shaking it slightly.

  "Sis, you still got my jacket..."

  She closed her eyes. _Stubborn and an idiot. And my brother._ "'The world wont stay still for us.'" She said, pulling off the jacket and throwing it to him. Despite the face full of leather, he still smiled at her.

  "Sonic wouldn't want us sittin' around worrying about him."

  "No, he wouldn't. C'mon, we'll keep busy. I'll spar you."

  "He-hey! You're on, sis!"

*******

Tails dropped down into a sitting position, his legs tired of being bunched together in a crouch. He shivered. Sighing, he gathered his two tails either side of him and hugging them to his chest like a blanket. _It's getting cold. Maybe'll be better if I just stayed inside and waited for Sonic. I don't have to be _first_ there._

  "Hi Tails!"

  "Ah!" Tails jumped, leaping to his feet and spinning around. A mushroom-yellow and peach furred rabbit stood before him. She was of his age and wore a red dress, with a white collar and a blue necktie. On her shoulder, a blue creature hung tight, being blown away slightly in the wind. Her ears, too, were being dragged in the same direction. "Hey Cream."

  Cream smiled, and the Chao on her shoulder mimicked. "Isn't it a little windy for you?"

  "Ah, I don't mind the wind," the fox replied, grinning. "I'm waiting for Sonic."

  "That doesn't mean you gotta sit out here and freeze your butt off," Cream giggled. The Chao did too.

  "I can if I want to. Sonic's my friend."

  "You're boring."

  "Am not!"

  "You _are_, Tails. You always go on Sonic's adventures. You never have any adventures of your _own_."

  "Can if I want to," Tails muttered, folding his arms and frowning as hard as he could at her. Cream seemed well and truly unaffected. "At least I have a _real_ friend, rather than hanging out with some silly _Chao_ all the time!"

  The rabbit gasped, clasping both hands over her mouth at first, then wrapping them around her Chao. "Cheese is _not_ silly! Well, not in any _bad_ way." To this, the blue critter, Cheese, gurgled happily and cuddled into her. "And besides, I have _plenty _of friends!"

  "Oh yeah? Who?"

  "Well! Up until today I thought you were my friend, Tails Prower."

  Out of all the replies Tails expected this had not been one of them. As long as he had known, he and Cream had been rivals in almost everything they did. He remembered once she and Cheese had tried to fly one of his planes without asking. They didn't get off the ground, but they _did_ wreck an entire palm tree because of it. And not to mention the plane. But he had competed with her too, having once tried to bring up a Chao himself. Where it got to, he didn't know. All he knew is, it didn't like handing him the tools he needed when he demanded for them.

  Tails sighed. Cream had folded her arms and turned her back on him with a great "humph!", and although he hated to admit it, he had been wrong to shout at her.

  "I'm sorry." He murmured. "I overreacted. And I'd-..." He swallowed, hard, then continued when he was certain she could not see his scrunched up face and gritted teeth. "...I would like to be your friend too," then he added hastily "and Cheese!" to which the Chao gurgled in glee and Cream turned around to face him again. She ran to him and hugged him tightly, squeezing the air out of his lungs. And she squealed right in his ear.

  "Thank you Tails! I'm sorry for shouting too, I just don't like people making fun of Cheese!"

  "You're welcome..." Tails gasped back. "And it would... mean more... if you let me breath and count how many... ribs you have broken."

  Cream released and clapped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry!"

  "It's ok," Tails assured, lowering himself onto the ground. "Just... gimmie a moment..."

  "Hey," Cream said, once Tails seemed fully recovered. "I have an idea!"

  "What?"

  "How about if me and you had an adventure?" Cheese gurgled in delight at the idea. "And him too, of course!"

  "Well, I don't know... I mean, I know we're _friends_ now..." The word "friend" and who he meant were an unusual combination. Like calling gas chocolate.

  "Sure you know!" Replied Cream. "Unless you're scared..." Something shone in her eyes when she glanced over her shoulder lazy-eyed at him. "..._Miles_."

  "I'm _not_ scared. And don't call me Miles!" Tails barked.

  "Then prove it," Cream taunted.

  Tails puffed out his chest. "All right, I will!" He grabbed Cream's hand, who squeaked in surprise when the fox holding her broke into a sprint back to headquarters. "We'll go inside, and have cocoa, and then we'll plan an adventure."

  "Ok... _Miles_." Cream grinned cheekily.

 "DON'T CALL ME MILES!"

*******

Sonic looked out of the window of the Stag Beetle. During the journey the different sights of Mobius blinked into existence as quick as they winked back out, the land below them rolling past swiftly. He had been sure that he could match the speed on foot, if not outrun it.

 Now the dust thrown up by the Stag's thrusters as they eased the great machine down slowly to land obscured the windows. But despite the tumbling yellow-brown clouds, he knew exactly where they were. They would be in front of the hangers, landing on a twenty foot white circle outlined in red, a big "S" printed in the centre for "Stag", though he had often joked it was for "Sonic". Rotor patted his shoulder on his way past, breaking his already dying daydream. He nodded in response, but no more. He caught a glance at Rouge, her hands gathered at her lap, her head low, before she descended the ramp walkway that had lowered itself to the ground. Rotor followed, wordlessly. It was hard to speak, after what had just happened. No one was left on the ship but him now. Shadow must've already gotten off, in a hurry. _Unsentimental Jerk_. 

  Sonic slung his backpack over his shoulders and walked down the ramp. The dust was clearing around him, and he could see the hangers and the cliff. 

  "A welcome would've been a treat," said Sonic, catching up with Rotor.

  "Oh, I radioed ahead. Told them to go to the assembly hall."

  Sonic frowned. "You mean, we're gonna tell them straight away?"

  Rotor was silent for moment. "Do you think news like this can wait, sir?"

  "You're right," Sonic admitted. Truthfully, the news was a great burden on his shoulders right now, one that he did not want to think of right now. Or ever.

  Once through the thick steel doors, bordered with their round bolts the size of apples, the hallways of the Revolution base sloped downwards steadily, then spread into a massive underground network locally called the Warrens. Maps and markings of the Warrens had to be memorised from a master copy before they got burnt and destroyed. Should the enemy breach, the Warrens provided an assortment of dead ends and secret passageways to confuses them, and provide escape from anyone should they be fleeing.

  The hallways were a collection of random sheets of assorted metals, like a silver patchwork, the odd length painted with thick black-and-yellow diagonal lines. Most of the metal had been pilfered from one of the chemical plants. Sometimes it was hard to believe that it all came from the one. The Warrens spread over such a massive distance.

  Sonic's trainers squeaked every step. He watched them as he walked, but was more interested in the metal floor passing below him. _Funny_, he thought. _Fifteen hours ago and I had seen enough metal to last me a lifetime. And here I am surrounded by the stuff._ He often wondered if there was anything significant in the feeling that here, in supposed safety, he did not feel much safer than he did out of free grounds.

  Rotor, Shadow and Rouge were behind him. He did not know what order they followed him, and quite frankly he didn't care. Three people could walk abreast in the long hallways, but it was likely that Shadow was lagging behind again, dragging his feet and looking bored. An aptly timed sigh from somewhere behind him clarified this.

  His mind rolled over everything he had seen onboard the Stag Beetle on the journey back here. He cringed, then tried to shoo away the memories. It didn't help. He still had to recite it all to everyone. He swallowed hard, taking a right turn.

  Before him stood the double doors of the assembly hall, about five times the height of him. Once bearing one great yellow-and-black strip and the initial R (Originally for Robotnik, but now changed to read "Revolution" underneath), various members of the Revolution had now gratified on it, though Sonic was sure Manic was responsible for the majority. To the right side of the doors, a fox was propped against the wall, hands on his belly and snoring. At least making fun of Antoine D'Coolette would take his mind off things for a moment.  

  "Yo, vhy iz zee door not open?" Sonic mocked. Antoine sprung to his feet, blinked the sleep out of his eyes and then frowned when he realised who had woken him up.

  "Not funny, Soneek!" The fox squealed in his annoying accent. "Scared the life out ov me. Could 'av been a robot, no?"

  "No." Sonic replied simply. Antoine brushed off his blue jacket and then punched in a pin code on the digital lock that he had been guarding – or supposed to have been. With the hiss of pistons and the roll of gears, the doors slid apart in the centre.

  Inside, there was a murmur of noise that silenced within a second. Dozens of faces he recognised stood in a huge circular, dome-topped room. Around the edges of the room mechanical equipment and computers whirred amongst four pillars, and in the centre was a circular pedestal. This acted as a holoscreen, and the Revolutionaries would gather around to view projections of mission briefings or any news. The space between the rows of the anxious faces gave the three enough room to walk to the holoscreen. Sonic looked along the crowd when he passed them. He saw the faces he recognised, of his friends, even from before the New Order was uprising. But now, he was noticing the missing faces more than the present. Now that he knew what happened.

  Shadow and Rouge stood at the front of the crowds – leaders usually stood around the front for the better view, but since they had been involved with the mission they stood among them in case they had something to say – leaving Rotor and Sonic to take their usual places. Rotor sat himself in front of a computer screen and started typing furiously on the keyboard. Sonic turned; facing the doors he had come through. The parting through the crowd had now been filled as the Revolutionaries spread back out. He looked around him. Manic, Sonia and Tails stood on the front row of leaders, along with Johnny Lightfoot the rabbit and Porker Lewis the pig. Johnny was a weaponry expert, where Porker was the architect who designed the Warrens.

  "Sonic," said Rotor from behind him. "It's ready."

  He was silent for a moment. Words didn't usually fail him like this. He licked his lips.

  "This is not a mission report," He said, stalking around the circular base of the holoscreen so everyone in the dim room would have a chance to see him. "It would have been, but there's… a development." The holoscreen flickered, and then a sphere mesh made of a green light appeared in the centre of the room, jumping every now and again or horizontal lines distorting the picture for only a second before it was reformed. The light projection units had been damaged when they had been stolen, so the picture on screen was never really crisp. Inside the light sphere, a mesh of the power plant flickered into existence. "We had two objectives. Both of them were successful. The power plant has been destroyed, and before we destroyed it we were able to obtain the disk we've been looking for."

  There were a few explanations of "yes!" amongst the crowd.

  "Though," continued Sonic, silencing them, "what we have found out was not pretty.

  "It took us twelve hours to read the encryption of these files. We have found out a lot about what Robotnik has been planning, but this has not advanced us. In fact, it's the biggest set back this group has seen.

  "First off, Robotnik has discovered a new power source." The screen flickered, and the globe of Mobius appeared in lines. "There is something moving along here," he pointed at the equator of the planet, "What it is, we don't know, but it's being kept in the air by something." The screen changed. "Something unbelievable."

  Conversation rose from the crowd. He heard someone exclaim, "It can't be!"

  "If it couldn't be, Robotnik wouldn't be leading his army towards it. They're going launch an airship to get inside, or land, on it, and then infiltrate. Guys, Robotnik is renowned for his intelligence and tactical skill. He wouldn't go after legends if there wasn't some evidence." He paused. "This means that the Chaos Emeralds exist.

  "The power being produced by the Emeralds is that which is keeping this UFO floating, and Robotnik intends to take this power and wield it."

  "What for?" He recognised the voice now. Sally Acorn. Full of energy, but with an enthusiasm that he suspected would be the end of her if she didn't learn how to control it. The holoscreen flickered again as the image changed. On screen, bordered by measurements and figures, was meshed a new sphere-shaped object, but not a planet. On the front were features, a small, egg-like nose sat wedged atop some beady eyes and atop of pair of a curved moustache. The face of Eggman – the nickname of whom it belong to, Dr. Robotnik – was a symbol of dread, and the gasps proved that.

   "A weapon." Sonic replied, trying to stay cool. "Something greater than we've ever anticipated. The Death Egg. We don't know a lot, only what it looks like, but there's clear evidence of some kind of laser weapon here… here… and if we change the image" the image switched to a side view "here. This is big, it's bigger than our moon, that's for sure. And if what it can fire is a laser, it can destroy Mobius with one single blast. But we don't think this is what it's for. Why would Robotnik destroy his own empire, unless there's some kind of level of insanity he hasn't yet reached – which I _doubt_.

  "We…" this was the first time Sonic had hesitated during his speech. Everyone seemed to notice it, and the atmosphere in the room turned to worry. "We must have found some kind of blueprints disk. There are things on here which will… shock you." Another anticipation. He would have been shocked about how unsteady he was, had this been a different situation. "We have found out what has… what's happened to our missing numbers."

  A few members of the Rebellion started talking to them. Friends and family had gone missing. Sonic wished they weren't here to see this.

  "Are they slaves?"

  "Are they still alive?"

  "I heard they clean the robots."

  "No," said Sonic. "No… It's… you'll see."

  The image didn't load fully before the interference caused it to dance and shift awkwardly. It lasted for a moment, then, when it was over, the image could be seen in an almost too clear manner.

  It was the cross section of a swat-bot, but its inside weren't that of machinery. It was a rabbit. Wires criss-crossed around it, plugged into it, like blood vessels. The rabbit's eyes were completely glazed over, as if it was dead.

  Sonic didn't make eye contact with his audience. He couldn't. He didn't want to face their faces of shock, horror and disgust. But he had to keep his speech going. Not lifting his eyes off his notes, he read them out almost as fast as he would run.

  "As this image shows, our former comrades are being used in Robotnik's army. According to notes found on the disk, the animal is gassed into a coma-like state, and this armour is built around it. They're plugged into the armour and motherboard, so that they loose all of their free will. If the armour gets punctured in any way, the motherboard kills the animal. This image is dated five years ago, but we can't be too sure how long Robotnik has been using this technology. That is all."

  With that Sonic left his pedestal and hastily left the hall with his head low. He didn't want to see the faces of the crowd. He didn't have to. He could sense them watching him, staring at him, each with so many questions, questions Sonic didn't want to answer. He knew fine well that most animals joined the resistance because someone close to them disappeared. He was no different. He could still feel the glare of the crowd boring into the back of his head. Slowly his walk turned into a march, and then a jog, and soon he was sprinting out of the hall.

 The doors slammed shut. Everyone was confused; it was not like Sonic to act like this. For many the news was still sinking in. One by one, the crowd got up and left of their own accord. Not many slept easily that night.


End file.
